Spencer Banbridge
Admiral (CICConFedFlt) Spencer Wayne "Skip" Banbridge was a distinguished officer of the Terran Confederation and for a time was the Admiral of the Fleet in the Terran Space Navy. Appearance and character Banbridge was short and squat, built like a fireplug. Once he had been the Flitt's middleweight boxing champion, and had a mashed in nose. His physique was intimidating to inferiors and his chew outs, as well as his command of base vocabulary, were legendary. History Little is known of Spencer Banbridge's early life. He came from an outpost world and managed to work his way upwards the hard way. Skip was an enlisted youth of whom the Terran Confederation Fleet believed that spending money on an education would pay off as a sound investment and he began his wartime career in the Confederation Service Academy. In those early days he met his roommate Winston Turner, another rising officer. Although Skip was 6 years old, they became best friends, which lasted for the following 30 years. Turner was always "the brains" and thanks to his tutoring, Skip was graded A in Schneid's Naval History 101 course. When they graduated, they heard the speech of old Horatio. Together, they served in the Special Operations Division as operatives in Marine Commando Six, which Turner commanded. Banbridge and his unit were deployed to prevent a terrorist organization from launching a biological attack on a Terran colony where Skip suffered a near fatal wound. During the mission Sergeant Ulandi had saved his and Turner's lives. Despite the loss of five sixths of the entire unit, Banbridge and Turner both displayed an extroardinary degree of courage that ensured the success of the operation. Both gentlemen were rewarded with the Fleet Cross for their actions. He flew his flag on a battlewagon. Later career When he became a senior officer and got the chair, he hoped that he could change the things about which they were always complaining, but he realized he was only in the front sit of a machine programmed by others. He believed that Confed Fleet was the most unjust of systems. At some point he married Janet, a woman who first wanted Turner. They had two sons together who around 2629 were lost at the Miaquez incident, caused by the Kilrathi. One of his pet projects was to get the R&D money so that listening posts, capable of grabbing translight burst signals, could be reduced to a size smaller than a battlewagon. Around 2634 he passed by McAuliffe base where he met his old colleague Ulandi and sent his regards to Turner. A few months later Banbridge made an appropriation request to a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, for 3 carriers and 6 battleships to counter the Kilrathi threat. Jamison More commented that this would be a provocative signal and the appropriation was denied. Worrying abut the rising tensions and the Confed-Kilrathi border, he wrote orders (2634-98,1) to Rear Admiral (CONFEDFLTINT) Joshua Speedwell requesting a full update on the political and military situation within the Kilrathi Empire. In their last meeting, Speedwell pointed out that the Empire is a total mystery. They both know that ConFedFlt resources are inadequate to patrol the rapidly expanding frontiers of the Empire (bordering also a Confed sector). Eventually Speedwell managed to fill him a report. For several years he gave the graduation speech to honor the fresh ensigns, and admited they were trite copycats of the speech he heard rom old Horatio 3 decades ago. In the ceremony of '34 in Houston to give speech for the graduation ceremony at the Confederation Service Academy, where he reunited with his old friend, Commander Turner. His mood was soured seeing Senator Jamison More talking to the journalists, thinking that he'd at least let the ensigns celebrate without advocating more cutbacks. More was looking straight at him and smiling. Turner restrained him as the Senator could outtalk him in the public. Skip sugested to Turner to take him, as he is a scholar. There, Turner and Banbridge witnessed how Ensign Geoffrey Tolwyn confronted Senator More. Knowing that the Ensign's future was doomed, they agreed to send him to a special operation. Tolwyn was summoned to his office and was given one of Bandbridge's legendary painfully loud reprimands that lasted for 10 minutes, then he was "banished" to Base McAuliffe, where he also sent Turner to recruit him for the operation. As he could not give an increased readiness alert, he unofficially made some key people to start hord some of the training ammunition, speed up overhauls and cut back on leaves. He commented to the press that political considerations (implying Jamison More) blocked the upgrade facilities for the Wildcat fighters as the Confed is heading for a crisis. The next day he stormed in his office at the CIC headquarters and complained angrily, questioning why Banbridge opposed the surgical strikes. He also brought up the matter of the facility on his planet, which Banbridge dismissed, as it was too close to the front lines, and such installations are made to the inner worlds. Seeing the Senator's insistence on the "surgical strikes", the deaths of pilots and his politician maneuvers to shift the blame, Banbridge swore that he will make him answer to the mothers of the dead pilots. More threatened Banbridge that he will begin investigations on him so that he can't breathe. In a later meeting with the President and the Senate Committee on the Conduct of the War he was frustrated to see them happy for the bloodless victories, and saw no need to mobilize the fleet and the reserves before the holidays and an election. It can be assumed that Banbridge took part in the disastrous Battle of McAuliffe at the opening of the Kilrathi War in 2634. Kilrathi War By 2654, Banbridge was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, the highest rank in the Terran Space Navy, and as such became the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During the Vega Campaign in 2654, Banbridge authorized a covert operation to discover Kilrathi intentions in the McAuliffe System, which they once again planned to attack. This order resulted in a mission to Gar's Emporium, a Kilrathi facility. By 2668, the Terran Confederation had liberated both the Vega and the Enigma Sectors, and the Kilrathi Empire was falling back. During 2668, the Kilrathi sued for peace in what became the 2668 False Armistace, allowing for a time of "peace" between the Confederation and the Empire. Like billions of other Confed citizens, Banbridge recognized the ploy, and authorized a covert operation to discover the Kilrathi's true intent. This covert operation, led by Colonel James Taggart, eventually discovered the Hakaga Fleet being secretly assembled in the Hari Sector, a remote region of space beyond the Kilrathi Empire. It was determined that the Kilrathi were planning to assault Earth within a matter of weeks. The group attempted to send a warning to Banbridge, who would not get the chance to act on this intelligence. On 2668.341, Vak'ga, the Kilrathi Ambassador to the Terran Confederation, called for a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During the meeting, he detonated a bomb attached to his chest, killing himself and 142 Terran officers of various ranks. Banbridge was among the dead. The only survivor of the meeting was Marine General Duke Grecko, who exited the room before the detonation but still sustained severe injuries. The loss of Admiral Banbridge and most of the Joint Chiefs, some of the finest officers in the Terran Confederation, left humanity in a precarious situation, as the majority of its leadership was massacred and left the Terran Space Navy in utter chaos. This confusion only left the Confederation more vulnerable to the Kilrathi assault that nearly vanquished the human race in the massive Battle of Earth mere weeks later. Category:Humans Category:Characters (Action Stations)